Andreae Visalia Bruxellensis, Scholae medicorum Patauinae professoris: De humani corporis fabrica libri septem

            The illustrations featured in Andreas Vesalius’ book on anatomy are fascinating and highly detailed. These drawings, including the images of surgeries and autopsies, provide readers with a thorough knowledge of the human body. What caught my eye when examining the text, however, was a series of images of various skeletal forms that depict the structural differences of those of different races. These differences are largely based off of the disparities in the shapes of the skulls and of the eye sockets. However, much of Vesalius’ work was dedicated to emphasizing the prominent biological differences between man and animal. This view of the Moorish man, as depicted through Vesalius’ text on anatomy, aligns with the Venetian view of Othello throughout the majority of the play. He is not seen as an animal, and yet, despite the biological factors that make him distinctly human, he is still not seen as being equal to the white, European men in the play. He is definitively a man and they see him as such when they are reliant upon him and his tactical mind. However, once he is believed to have brought harm to one of their own, he is viewed as another creature entirely, one incapable of acting on anything but the most basic, carnal instincts. Thus, Othello lies somewhere in between man and beast in the eyes of the Venetians.